Label assembly and method of using the same to label articles durably yet removably

ABSTRACT

A label assembly and method of using the same to label articles durably, yet removably. In one embodiment, the method includes providing an image removing laminate. The image removing laminate includes (i) a remover support, and (ii) a remover layer secured to the remover support, the remover layer, upon being activated by at least one of heat and light, being bondable to an ink image on a garment in such a way that the bonding between the remover layer and the ink image is stronger than the bonding between the ink image and the garment. The method then includes bonding the remover layer of the image removing laminate to the ink image on the garment and, then, detaching the ink image from the garment by separating the image removing laminate away from the garment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional of pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/199,466, inventors Hseih et al., filed Aug. 31,2011, which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/804,265, inventors Hseih et al., filed Jul. 16, 2010, now U.S.Pat. No. 8,012,557, which in turn is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/754,893, inventors Hseih et al., filed Jan. 9,2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,758,938, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the labeling of articles andrelates more particularly to a novel label assembly suitable for use inlabeling articles durably yet removably.

Adhesive labels are currently applied to a wide variety of articles formany different types of purposes. Examples of such labeled articlesinclude, but are not limited to, commercial vehicles adorned with decalsthat identify a business name or trademark of the vehicle owner, windowstorefronts labeled with decals that disclose the name of the business,private vehicles decorated with bumper stickers that display a messagewished to be conveyed by the vehicle owner, and containers forbeverages, detergents or health and beauty aids decorated with labelsthat identify the type of product contained therein and/or a trademarkfor the product. Even wooden tabletops have been decorated by certainrestaurant chains with adhesive labels displaying a restaurant logo orthe like.

Garments and other finished fabrics (e.g., towels, bed linens,tablecloths, etc.) have traditionally been labeled using one or more ofthe following: hanging tags conveying price and similar information;pressure-sensitive adhesive stickers denoting size and similarinformation; and cloth tags conveying article size, fiber content,instructions for care, and the manufacturer's name or trademark. Whereasthe above-mentioned hanging tags and stickers are typically intended tobe removed by a consumer after purchase of the article, theabove-mentioned cloth tags are typically not intended to be removed bythe consumer after the purchase of the article, but rather, are intendedto be permanently affixed to the article. In fact, such tags arecommonly known in the industry as permanent care labels and typicallyare sewn directly onto the article.

Unfortunately, the presence of a permanent care label on certainarticles, such as undergarments or other garments in which the label isin direct contact with the wearer's skin, can become irritating to thewearer. As a result, it is not uncommon for a wearer of such a garmentto remove the permanent care label, typically by cutting or simply byripping the permanent care label from the garment. However, as canreadily be appreciated, such a practice not only results in a loss ofthe information contained on the label but the act of cutting or rippingthe permanent care label from the garment can also result in significantdamage to the garment, itself.

A recent approach to this problem has been to replace the aforementionedpermanent care cloth label sewn onto the garment with a heat-transferpermanent care label adhered to the garment. An example of theaforementioned approach is disclosed in commonly-assigned PCTApplication No. PCT/US03/38315 entitled METHOD FOR LABELING FABRICS ANDHEAT-TRANSFER LABEL WELL-SUITED FOR USE IN SAID METHOD, filed Dec. 2,2003, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

Other documents relating to the labeling of garments using heat-transfertechnology include the following U.S. patents, all of which areincorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,466, inventorsHare et al., which issued Jul. 23, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,710,inventors Hare et al., which issued May 7, 2002; U.S. Pat. No.5,813,772, inventors Magill et al., which issued Sep. 29, 1998; U.S.Pat. No. 5,411,783, inventor Mahn, Jr., which issued May 2, 1995; U.S.Pat. No. 4,786,349, inventor Mahn, Sr., which issued Nov. 22, 1988; U.S.Pat. No. 4,256,795, inventors Day et al., which issued Mar. 17, 1981;U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,559, inventors Day et al., which issued Nov. 16,1976; U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,555, inventors Day et al., which issued May25, 1976; U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,499, inventors Day et al., which issuedNov. 18, 1975; and U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 28,542, inventor Meyer, whichreissued Sep. 2, 1975.

One problem that has been noted in connection with the application ofheat-transfer labels to articles is that a small percentage of thelabels tend to be improperly applied to the article (e.g., the label isimproperly positioned on the article, the label is incompletelytransferred to the article, the wrong label is inadvertently transferredto the article). For certain types of articles, this problem can beremedied by removing the heat-transfer label from the article (bypeeling or scraping the label from the article and/or by treating thelabel with a solvent to dissolve the label) and then by applying anotherlabel to the article. However, such a remedy is often not feasible inthe case of a permanent care label applied to a garment or like fabricarticle because the fabric article may be damaged by picking at orscraping the overlying label or by contacting the fabric with adissolving solvent. This difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that thepermanent care label, by its very design, is intended to remain adheredto fabric under adverse conditions, such as laundering. If an improperlyapplied heat-transfer permanent care label cannot be removed from agarment or other fabric article to which it is attached, it may benecessary to discard the article or to sell it a reduced price, both ofwhich are clearly undesirable options.

Accordingly, one approach that has been taken to remove heat-transferpermanent care labels from fabric has been to apply, under pressure, astrip of aggressive, pressure-sensitive tape to the label and then topeel the tape and adhered label away from the underlying fabric.Unfortunately, this approach is limited in its utility in that it canonly be performed with any degree of success during a window ofapproximately ten minutes following application of the label onto thefabric. (After said approximately ten minute window, the aforementionedtechnique does not typically result in adequate removal of the labelfrom the fabric.) However, such a short window of time for remedyinglabeling errors is disadvantageous because it typically requires thesame individual who is involved in applying the labels to the articlesalso to inspect the labeled articles and to remove any misappliedlabels. As can readily be appreciated, these additional responsibilitiestypically lead to a reduction in the number of properly labeled articlesthat can be processed by a given individual.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new labelassembly.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a labelassembly as described above that overcomes at least some of theshortcomings discussed above in connection with existing labelassemblies.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a labelassembly as described above that can be used to form a lasting, yetremovable, image on an article.

In furtherance of the above and other objects to be set forth or tobecome apparent from the description to follow, and according to oneaspect of the invention, there is provided a label assembly suitable foruse in forming a lasting, yet removable, image on an article, said labelassembly comprising (a) an image forming laminate for forming an imageon the article, said image forming laminate comprising an ink layer,said ink layer being bondable to the article; and (b) an image removinglaminate for removing said image from the article, said image removinglaminate comprising a remover layer, said remover layer, upon beingactivated by heat and/or radiation, being bondable to said ink layer ofsaid image forming laminate; (c) whereby, upon bonding of said imageremoving laminate to said ink layer, the bonding between said imageremoving laminate and said ink layer is stronger than the bondingbetween said ink layer and the article.

As used in the present specification and claims, a statement that thebonding between the image removing laminate and ink layer is strongerthan the bonding between the ink layer and the article encompasses anyof the following variations: (a) either direct or indirect contactbetween the ink layer and the remover layer; (b) either direct orindirect contact between the ink layer and the article; (c) removal ofthe entire image forming laminate, including the ink layer, from thearticle; and (d) removal of a portion of the image forming laminateincluding the ink layer from the article, leaving another portion of theimage forming laminate still adhered to the article.

In a first type of image forming laminate construction, the imageforming laminate further comprises an image support securely bondeddirectly to said ink layer, said image support facing towards thearticle and said ink layer facing away from the article. The imagesupport may be capable of adhering directly to the article, preferablyafter activation of said image support by heat and/or light.Alternatively, the image forming laminate may further comprise anadhesive layer coupled to the surface of the image support opposite theink layer, said adhesive layer preferably being a heat- and/orlight-activatable adhesive. The image forming laminate may furthercomprise a protective layer, said protective layer being coupled to thesurface of the ink layer opposite the image support.

In a second type of image forming laminate construction, the imageforming laminate further comprises an image support releasably coupledto said ink layer, said image support being adapted to be removed fromsaid ink layer following bonding of said ink layer to the article. Theink layer may be capable of adhering directly to the article, preferablyafter activation of said ink layer by heat and/or light. Alternatively,the image forming laminate may further comprise an adhesive layercoupled to the surface of the ink layer opposite the image support, saidadhesive layer preferably being activatable by heat and/or light. Theadhesive layer may be adhered directly to the ink layer or may beadhered to the ink layer through a primer layer. The image forminglaminate may further comprise a protective layer, said protective layerbeing coupled to the surface of the ink layer opposite the adhesivelayer. The protective layer may be adhered directly to the ink layer onone surface and adhered directly to the image support on its oppositesurface. Alternatively, a wax release layer may be interposed betweenthe image support and the protective layer.

The image removing laminate of the above-described label assemblypreferably further comprises a remover support securely bonded to saidremover layer, said remover support either being bonded directly to saidremover layer or being bonded indirectly to said remover layer throughan intermediate tie layer. Not only is the bond between said removerlayer and said ink layer stronger than the bond between said ink layerand the article, but the bond between the remover support and saidremover layer is also stronger than the bond between the ink layer andthe article; in this manner, the ink layer may be removed by bonding theremover layer to the ink layer and then by pulling said remover supportaway from the article.

The present invention is also directed individually to theabove-described image forming laminate and to the above-described imageremoving laminate.

The present invention is additionally directed to a method of forming animage on an article using said image forming laminate and to a method ofremoving an image from the article using said image removing laminate.

For purposes of the present specification and claims, it is to beunderstood that certain terms used herein, such as “on” or “over,” whenused to denote the relative positions of two or more layers of a label,are primarily used to denote such relative positions in the context ofhow those layers are situated prior to application of the label to anarticle since, after application, the arrangement of layers is inverted.

Additional objects, as well as features, advantages and aspects of thepresent invention, will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows, and in part will be obvious from the description or may belearned by practice of the invention. In the description, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof and in whichis shown by way of illustration specific embodiments for practicing theinvention. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is tobe understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structuralchanges may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in alimiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best definedby the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are hereby incorporated into andconstitute a part of this specification, illustrate preferredembodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serveto explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings wherein likereference numerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 is a schematic section view of a first embodiment of a labelassembly suitable for use in forming a lasting, yet removable, image onan article, said label assembly being constructed according to theteachings of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic section view of a labeled garment formed bybonding the image forming laminate of the label assembly of FIG. 1 to agarment;

FIGS. 3( a) and 3(b) are schematic section views showing how the imageremoving laminate of FIG. 1 may be bonded to the labeled garment of FIG.2 and used to remove the image forming laminate from the garment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic section view of an alternative embodiment to thatshown in FIG. 1 of an image removing laminate;

FIG. 5 is a schematic section view of a first alternative embodiment tothat shown in FIG. 1 of an image forming laminate;

FIG. 6 is a schematic section view of a second alternative embodiment tothat shown in FIG. 1 of an image forming laminate;

FIG. 7 is a schematic section view of a third alternative embodiment tothat shown in FIG. 1 of an image forming laminate;

FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b) are schematic section views showing how the imageforming laminate of FIG. 7 may be used to label an article;

FIGS. 9( a) and 9(b) are schematic section views showing how the imageremoving laminate of FIG. 1 may be bonded to the labeled article of FIG.8( b) and used to remove the label from the article;

FIG. 10 is a schematic section view of a fourth alternative embodimentto that shown in FIG. 1 of an image forming laminate;

FIG. 11 is a schematic section view of a fifth alternative embodiment tothat shown in FIG. 1 of an image forming laminate;

FIG. 12 is a schematic section view of a sixth alternative embodiment tothat shown in FIG. 1 of an image forming laminate;

FIG. 13 is a schematic section view of a seventh alternative embodimentto that shown in FIG. 1 of an image forming laminate;

FIG. 14 is a schematic section view of an eighth alternative embodimentto that shown in FIG. 1 of an image forming laminate; and

FIG. 15 is a schematic section view of a ninth alternative embodiment tothat shown in FIG. 1 of an image forming laminate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As noted above, the present invention is directed to a novel labelassembly suitable for use in forming a lasting, yet removable, image onan article. Such a label assembly includes two components: (i) an imageforming laminate; and (ii) an image removing laminate. As willhereinafter be described, the image forming laminate is used to form alasting image on the article, and the image removing laminate is used toremove the lasting image from the article.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic section view of afirst embodiment of a label assembly suitable for use in forming alasting, yet removable, image on an article, said label assembly beingconstructed according to the teachings of the present invention andrepresented generally by reference numeral 11.

Label assembly 11 comprises an image forming laminate 13 and an imageremoving laminate 14.

Image forming laminate 13 comprises an image support 15 and an ink layer17, ink layer 17 being positioned directly on top of image support 15,preferably by printing ink layer 17 onto support 15. Support 15 may be,for example, a uniform sheet of material of a suitable thickness that isdirectly bondable, upon activation by heat (preferably at typicalheat-transfer temperatures) and/or light, to a desired article pressedinto contact therewith. (Prior to being activated by heat and/or light,support 15 serves to provide structural support to ink layer 15 topermit handling of image forming laminate 13.) In addition, support 15preferably has a sufficiently smooth top surface to enable the legibleprinting of ink layer 17 thereonto. The present inventors havedetermined that, to permit highly legible printing thereonto, thesurface roughness of support 15 preferably should not exceed more thanabout 15 microns. Materials usable as support 15 include, for example,PVC-based, polyester-based, polyurethane-based or acrylic-based filmshaving suitable strength, bondability, and smoothness to be used in themanner described above. A specific example of a composition suitable foruse in forming support 15 comprises 100 parts Geon 178 polyvinylchloride resin (PolyOne, Avon Lake, Ohio), 53 parts Solvesso 100hydrocarbon solvent (Exxon Chemical, Houston, Tex.), 16 parts of G59plasticizer (C.P. Hall, Bedford Park, Ill.) and 29 parts titaniumdioxide pigment (DuPont, Wilmington, Del.). (For purposes of the presentspecification and claims, the term polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is definedto encompass both homopolymers and copolymers of vinyl chloride.)

Ink layer 17, which may actually comprise either a single ink layer or astacked plurality of ink layers, preferably has an overall thickness ofabout 0.1 to 30 microns, more preferably about 1 to 20 microns, and maybe formed from any one or more inks that are compatible with imagesupport 15 and adhere sufficiently well thereto to form a lasting image.Where, for example, image support 15 is the above-described PVC-basedfilm, ink layer 17 may be formed, for example, by thermal transferprinting, laser printing, or ink jet printing a suitable ink ontosupport 15. Preferably, such printing involves printing a thermaltransfer ribbon ink (e.g., AXR 600 thermal transfer ribbon ink, Armor,Hebron, Ky.) onto support 15, preferably using a near-edge thermaltransfer printer. As can readily be appreciated, a thermal transferprinter, an ink jet printer, a laser printer or like device may beconnected to a computer in such a manner that a digital image generatedby or selected using the computer may be printed with the printer. Sucha computer could be a stand-alone personal computer or could be acomputer connected to a network through a mainframe, through theInternet, etc.

Alternatively, where image support 15 is the foregoing PVC-based film,ink layer 17 may also be formed by depositing a PVC ink onto support 15,preferably by screen printing, gravure printing or flexographicprinting, and, thereafter, allowing any volatile component(s) of the inkcomposition to evaporate, leaving only the non-volatile ink componentsto form layer 17. An example of a PVC ink suitable for use in formingink layer 17 comprises 100 parts GNS Bear's Navy ink (PolyOneCorporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 10 parts Acumist B9 wax (HoneywellInternational Inc., Morristown, N.J.), 5 parts Geon 137 PVC resin(PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio) and 1 part zinc oxide(Sigma-Aldrich Co., Milwaukee, Wis.) as a cross-linker. In the case ofthe aforementioned PVC ink, there are no volatile components that mustbe allowed to evaporate; nevertheless, the printed product must beheated, typically in an IR or UV oven, to fuse, gel or “cure” ink layer17.

Where support 15 is acrylic-based, polyester-based orpolyurethane-based, ink layer 17 may comprise, for example, an acrylicink, a polyester ink or a polyurethane ink, respectively.

If desired, a first portion of ink layer 17 may be formed by screenprinting, gravure printing or flexographic printing, and a secondportion of ink layer 17 may be formed by thermal transfer printing, inkjet printing, laser printing or the like. For example, said firstportion of ink layer 17 may be used to convey information that isconstant for a plurality of image forming laminates 13 while said secondportion of ink layer 17 may be used to convey information that may varyfrom one image forming laminate 13 to another image forming laminate 13.For example, said first portion (or constant information) of ink layer17 may be used to convey care instructions or a trademark for a class ofclothing articles whereas said second portion (or variable information)of ink layer 17 may be used to convey information that is particular toa given label, or to a series of labels. Said second portion of inklayer 17 may contain human-readable information and/or machine-readableinformation, such as bar codes. Examples of information that may beincluded in said second portion of ink layer 17 include: (a) serialnumbers uniquely identifying each label; (b) product characteristics,such as the size of each such article of clothing (e.g., S, M, L, etc.),style, fiber type, etc.; (c) pricing information; (d) identification orlocation of the manufacturer or distributor; and (e) authenticityinformation.

In this manner, the first portion (or constant information) of ink layer17 may be applied by the label manufacturer, and the second portion (orvariable information) of ink layer 17 may be applied thereafter by anindustrial user of the label (sometimes called a label converter; forexample, a clothing manufacturer) just prior to label transfer. As aresult, custom labels may be produced, and the amount of label stockthat must be kept on hand by the manufacturer can be significantlydecreased. More generally, however, the first portion of ink layer 17can be imprinted in-line with the second portion of ink layer 17; thesecond portion of ink layer 17 can be imprinted at the same location butwith a different printing line used to form the first portion of inklayer 17; or the first and second portions of ink layer 17 can beimprinted at different locations, typically by different manufacturers.

As noted above, the legibility of matter printed on support 15 islargely a function of the surface roughness of support 15. Consequently,if the printing surface of support 15 has a surface roughness of greaterthan about 15 microns, the print quality tends to be rather poor. (Thisproblem of legibility is exacerbated where thermal transfer printing orthe like is used to print the marking since the thickness of a markingmade by such techniques is on the order of 1 micron.) Therefore, thesurface roughness of support 15 is preferably no greater than about 10microns and is more preferably about 5 microns if one wishes to printgraphics (as opposed to text) or text of small lettering. Accordingly,for applications where high resolution is required, the PVC-basedsupport described above is preferably used, said PVC-based supporthaving a surface roughness of less than 1 micron. By contrast, wheresuch high resolution is not required, another support having a surfaceroughness of about 6-10 microns may be used.

It should be understood that, although, for ease of illustration, inkdesign layer 17 is shown in FIG. 1 (and elsewhere in the drawings of thepresent application) as a continuous layer on image support 15, inklayer 17 is typically not in the form of a continuous layer, but rather,is typically in the form of a plurality of discrete elements making upthe desired image and/or text of the label.

As can readily be appreciated, image forming laminate 13 couldadditionally or alternatively include an inventory control mechanism ora security feature (anti-theft, anti-counterfeiting, anti-parallelimports) in the form of one or more security materials (such as inks andadditives) incorporated into ink layer 17 and/or image support 15.Security materials may comprise or be added to a single layer of thelabel or may comprise multiple layers of the label which interact toprovide a security indication. Readily apparent (or “overt”) securityindicators are generally preferred to covert security.

Security inks include, but are not limited to, IR-activatable inks,UV-activatable inks, visible light-activatable inks, heat-activatableinks, electrically-activatable inks, magnetically-activatable inks,chemically-activatable inks, humidity-activatable inks,pressure-activatable inks, dichroic inks, and time-controlled inks.

Security additives include, for example, microscopic tracer particles(or “taggants”) that may be incorporated into a layer of the label.Certain molecules can be coded by their physical material composition,color, alpha-numeric characters and other methods. An electronic readerwould be used to verify the molecular composition in the label.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown schematically a labeled garmentL formed using image forming laminate 13. Garment G may be made of oneor more fabrics, such fabrics being formed from natural or syntheticmaterials (e.g., cotton, nylon, polyester, rayon, Lycra, Spandex orcombinations thereof); alternatively, garment G may be made ofnon-fabric materials, such as leather or the like. To form labeledgarment L, one places image support 15 directly on top of garment G,with ink layer 17 facing upwardly away from garment G. Where imagesupport 15 is heat-activatable, image support 15 is then bonded togarment G by pressing laminate 13 down against the garment G whileapplying heat downwardly towards ink layer 17 and image support 15 untilimage support 15 bonds to garment G. Preferably, the aforementionedapplication of heat and pressure to image forming laminate 13 iseffected using conventional heat-transfer equipment. For example, onemay use an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3 setat 40-60 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds.

The present inventors have noted that, when image forming laminate 13 isused to decorate fabrics, a good degree of label adherence and abrasionresistance is achieved. For example, once applied to fabric, the imageforming laminate 13 can be stretched with its associated fabric beyondits original size and can go through numerous washing cycles withoutbreaking down significantly or losing image quality. In addition, imageforming laminate 13 forms a smooth surface on the fabric article,without any puckering on the article, and results in a “soft-feeling”label to the touch. Furthermore, image forming laminate 13 does notleave a visually discernible residue on the fabric, thereby affording a“no-label-look” to the labeled article.

Moreover, image forming laminate 13 can be applied to an article in amatter of a few seconds or less and does not require anypost-application processing. Consequently, image forming laminate 13permits virtually continuous labeling of a plurality of articles,thereby resulting in greater throughput than is possible with existinglabel constructions.

It should be understood that, although image forming laminate 13 isshown in FIG. 2 being bonded to a garment G, image forming laminate 13may be bonded to other types of articles, such as glass, ceramic, paper,wood, metal, metal oxide, and/or plastic articles, provided that theparticular material used as image support 15 is bondable to such anarticle.

Referring back now to FIG. 1, image removing laminate 14 comprises aremover support 19 and a remover layer 21, remover layer 21 beingpositioned directly on top of remover support 19. (It should be notedthat, even though remover support 19 and remover layer 21 are shown inFIG. 1 having matching sizes, it is not necessary that remover support19 and remover layer 21 have such matching sizes; instead, removersupport 19 may have a periphery extending beyond that of remover layer21 or vice versa. In fact, if desired, one may space apart at regularintervals a plurality of remover layers 21 on an elongated common web ofsupport 19.)

For reasons to become apparent below, remover support 19 must be capableof providing structural support to remover layer 21, as well as beingresistant to tearing and stable to the conditions of heat and/or lightactivation to which image removing laminate 14 is typically exposed.Materials suitable for use as remover support 19 include polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) films, oriented polypropylene films (particularlyheat-stabilized, oriented polypropylene films), polymer-coated papersubstrates, metal foils (e.g., aluminum foil, stainless steel foil),metallized plastic films and fabrics. Where remover layer 21 isactivated by applying heat to support 19 (which, thereafter transmitssaid heat to layer 21), support 19 preferably has a thickness of about10 to 200 microns, more preferably 25 to 75 microns.

Remover layer 21, which preferably has a thickness of about 2 to 200microns, more preferably 5 to 50 microns, may be formed from anymaterial that is compatible with remover support 19, that adheres wellto support 19 and that, upon being activated with heat (preferably attypical heat-transfer temperatures) and/or light and pressed intocontact with ink layer 17 of image forming laminate 13, adheres well toink layer 17. In particular, as will be discussed further below, onceactivated and contacted with ink layer 17, remover layer 21 must adheremore strongly to remover support 19 and to ink layer 17 than ink layer17 adheres to support 15 or than support 15 adheres to the labeledarticle. In this manner, one may bond image removing laminate 14 toimage forming laminate 13 and then, by peeling image removing laminate14 away from the article, remove either ink layer 17 or both ink layer17 and support 15 from the underlying article.

Where ink layer 17 is formed, for example, using a PVC ink or a thermaltransfer ink, remover layer 21 may comprise, for example, a PVC resin, apolyester resin, a polyurethane resin, a polyamide resin, or an acrylicresin. (Where ink layer 17 is formed using an acrylic ink, a polyesterink or a polyurethane ink, remover layer 21 may comprise, for example,an acrylic resin, a polyester resin or a polyurethane resin,respectively.) An example of a suitable composition for use in formingsuch a remover layer 21 comprises 50 parts Sancure 835 polyurethaneresin (Noveon Corp., Cleveland, Ohio), 0.5 parts Tafigel PUR 61thickener (Ultra Additives, Clover, S.C.), and 0.2 parts Dehydran 1620defoamer (Cognis Corp., Ambler, Pa.). Another example of a suitablecomposition for use in forming remover layer 21 comprises 50 partsSancure 835 polyurethane resin (Noveon Corp., Cleveland, Ohio), 0.5parts Tafigel PUR 61 thickener (Ultra Additives, Clover, S.C.), 0.2parts Dehydran 1620 defoamer (Cognis Corp., Ambler, Pa.) and 1 partCX-100 crosslinker (NeoResins, Wilmington, Mass.).

Remover layer 21 may be formed by printing a composition of the typedescribed above onto support 19, preferably by screen printing, and thenheating the printed product or allowing any volatile component(s) of theprinted layer to evaporate, leaving only the non-volatile component(s)to form layer 21.

Referring now to FIGS. 3( a) and 3(b), there is shown schematically themanner in which image removing laminate 14 may be used to remove imageforming laminate 13 from a garment G to which it has been bonded. First,as seen in FIG. 3( a), image removing laminate 14 is positioned relativeto the labeled article so that remover layer 21 is placed directly ontop of ink layer 17 of image forming laminate 13, with remover support19 facing upwardly away from ink layer 17. Next, while image removinglaminate 14 is pressed downwardly against image forming laminate 13,remover layer 21 is activated. Where remover layer 21 is activatable byheat, such activation may be effected, for example, by applying heat tothe top of remover support 19 until sufficient heat is transmitted byremover support 19 to layer 21 so as to cause layer 21 to be activated.(Preferably, the aforementioned application of heat and pressure toimage removing laminate 14 is effected using conventional heat-transferequipment, such as Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No.79200-00-3 set at 40-60 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds.) The result of theaforementioned activation of remover layer 21 is the bonding of removerlayer 21 to ink layer 17 and to image support 15. Finally, as seen inFIG. 3( b), the peeling away of image removing laminate 14 from garmentG causes ink layer 17 and image support 15, both of which are nowadhered to image removing laminate 14, also to be peeled away fromgarment G.

It should be noted that, even though in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3(b), image removing laminate 14 results in the complete removal of imageforming laminate 13 from garment G, it is not necessary that theentirety of image support 15 be removed from garment G (provided thatthe entire label image is located in ink layer 17, and not at all inimage support 15). In such a case, all that is minimally necessary isthat ink layer 17 be removed from garment G, with a portion or all ofimage support 15 possibly remaining on the garment G.

One advantage to using image removing laminate 14 to remove imageforming laminate 13 from an article, as compared to using the strips ofpressure-sensitive tape described above, is that image removing laminate14 need not be used within about ten minutes of label transfer, butrather, may be used at any time.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a schematic section view of analternative embodiment of an image removing laminate, said imageremoving laminate being constructed according to the teachings of thepresent invention and represented generally by reference numeral 41.

Image removing laminate 41 is similar in many respects to image removinglaminate 14, both laminates including a remover support 19 and a removerlayer 21. The principal difference between image removing laminate 41and image removing laminate 14 is that image removing laminate 41further includes a tie layer 43 interposed between remover support 19and remover layer 21, tie layer 43 serving the purpose of strengtheningthe adhesion between remover support 19 and remover layer 21. This maybe desirable, for example, where, due to the composition of ink layer17, a remover layer 21 of a particular composition is used that does notbond as strongly to remover support 19 as may be desired. For example,where ink layer 17 is PVC-based, remover layer 21 is PVC-based andsupport 19 is a PET film, it may be desirable to use apolyurethane-based tie layer 43.

Tie layer 43, which may have a thickness of about 1 to 50 microns,preferably 2 to 10 microns, may be formed by depositing, preferably byscreen printing, a tie layer composition on top of support 19 and thenheating the printed product or allowing the volatile component(s) of theprinted layer to evaporate, leaving only the non-volatile component(s)to form layer 43. Remover layer 21 may then be formed by printing aremover layer composition onto tie layer 43 and then heating theresultant product or allowing any volatile component(s) of the printedlayer to evaporate, leaving only the non-volatile component(s) to formlayer 21.

It should be noted that, even though remover support 19, tie layer 43and remover layer 21 are all shown in FIG. 4 to have matchingperipheries, it is not necessary that all of the aforementioned layershave such matching peripheries. Instead, for example, one may spaceapart at regular intervals on an elongated common web of support 19 aplurality of remover layers 21 and tie layers 43 having matching ornon-matching peripheries.

Image removing laminate 41 may be used in the same manner as imageremoving laminate 14.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a schematic section view of afirst alternative embodiment of an image forming laminate, said imageforming laminate being constructed according to the teachings of thepresent invention and represented generally by reference numeral 51.

Image forming laminate 51 comprises an ink layer 53, an image support 55and an adhesive layer 57. Ink layer 53 is identical to ink layer 17 ofimage forming laminate 13. Image support 55 is similar in many respectsto image support 15 of image forming laminate 13 but, due to thepresence of adhesive layer 57, is not limited to materials that areactivatable by heat (at typical heat-transfer temperatures) and/or lightso as to be directly bondable to articles. Consequently, many of theheat-stable materials suitable for use as remover support 19 may also besuitable for use as image support 55.

Adhesive layer 57, which preferably has a thickness of about 10 to 200microns, comprises a material that, upon activation with heat(preferably at typical heat-transfer temperatures) and/or light, isdirectly and durably bondable to a desired article while, at the sametime, remaining durably bonded to support 55. Depending upon the type ofarticle to be labeled, examples of suitable adhesives may includePVC-based adhesives, acrylic-based adhesives, polyester-based adhesives,polyurethane-based adhesives and polyamide-based adhesives. One exampleof a suitable adhesive composition for use in forming adhesive layer 57,where image forming laminate 51 is used to label fabric articles,comprises 450 parts HMP 5184 V polyester powder resin (Bostik-Findley,Middleton, Mass.) as an adhesive, 150 parts PKHW 35 phenoxy dispersion(InChem Corp., Rock Hill, S.C.) as a binder, 110 parts Tafigel PUR 61thickener (Ultra Additives, Inc., Clover, S.C.), 12 parts Dehydran 1620defoamer (Cognis Corp., Ambler, Pa.), 6 parts Zonyl FSA wetting agent(DuPont, Wilmington, Del.), and 1800 parts water. Another example of asuitable adhesive composition for use in forming adhesive layer 57,where image forming laminate 51 is used to label fabric articles,comprises 100 parts Geon 137 PVC resin (PolyOne, Avon Lake, Ohio), 55parts Santicizer 160 plasticizer (Ferro, Cleveland, Ohio), 55 partsdioctyl phthalate plasticizer (ChemCentral, Bedford Park, Ill.) and 47parts Griltex 4AP1 adhesive (Griltech, Sumter, S.C.).

Adhesive layer 57 is preferably formed by depositing, by screen printingor the like, onto the bottom of support 55 a suitable adhesivecomposition and then evaporating any volatile component(s) of thecomposition, leaving only the non-volatile solid component(s) thereto toform layer 57. Preferably, the peripheries of support 55 and adhesivelayer 57 are identical (as shown in FIG. 5), but they need not be so.

Image forming laminate 51 may be applied to an article and, thereafter,removed therefrom in the same manner as image forming laminate 13. Asnoted above in connection with image forming laminate 13, although it ispreferred that image removing laminate 14 or image removing laminate 41be capable of removing the entirety of image forming laminate 51 from anarticle, it is not essential that the entirety of image forming laminate51 be removed. Instead, provided that the entire label image is locatedwithin ink layer 53, it is sufficient if ink layer 53 is removed fromthe article, with a portion or all of support 55 and/or adhesive layer57 possibly remaining adhered to the article.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a schematic section view of asecond alternative embodiment of an image forming laminate, said imageforming laminate being constructed according to the teachings of thepresent invention and represented generally by reference numeral 61.

Image forming laminate 61 is similar in most respects to image forminglaminate 51, the principal difference between the two image forminglaminates being that image forming laminate 61 further comprises aprotective layer 63 deposited directly on top of ink layer 53 to protectink layer 53 from scuffing and laundering conditions. Protective layer63, which preferably has a thickness of about 2 to 50 microns, morepreferably 2 to 10 microns, may be formed from a wide variety ofdifferent resins, both water-based and solvent-based, provided that theresultant layer 63 possesses an acceptable degree of abrasion resistanceand an acceptable degree of adhesion to ink layer 53. A preferredformulation from which protective lacquer layer 63 may be printedincludes a combination of a high T_(g) solvent-based phenoxy resin, suchas PKHH phenoxy resin (InChemRez Inc., Rock Hill, S.C.), and a low T_(g)solvent-based polyurethane resin, such as Estane 5715 polyurethane resin(Noveon, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio), such resins preferably being combinedin a 1 to 3 ratio with an organic solvent, such as cyclohexanone and/ora dibasic ester (e.g., dimethyl adipate). In addition, an adhesionpromoter, such as NB 80 polymeric aliphatic isocyanate adhesion promoter(Nazdar Ink, Shawnee, Kans.), is preferably included in the formulationto enhance printing quality, said adhesion promoter being present in anamount constituting about 0 to 10%, by weight, more preferably 2 to 8%,by weight. A small amount (less than 1%) of a surfactant, e.g., ZonylFSO fluorosurfactant (DuPont, Wilmington, Del.), may also be added tothe formulation prior to printing. Another suitable material for use asprotective layer 63 may be an acrylic-based material, a polyester-basedmaterial or a PVC-based material. Wax may be added to protective layer63 to improve scuff resistance.

Where laminate 61 is used as a permanent care label for garments, theaforementioned combination of a low T_(g) polyurethane polymer and ahigh T_(g) phenoxy polymer is particularly desirable as it results in amedium T_(g) mixture that provides a “soft” feeling with the rightpolymer modulus that prevents the label construction from blocking whenthe label construction is manufactured as a self-wound roll.

Another preferred formulation from which protective layer 63 may beprinted includes 100 parts Nazdar 9627 clear overprint varnish (NazdarInk, Shawnee, Kans.) and 5 parts NB 80 adhesion promoter.

Other suitable protective layers 63 may be found in the followingpatents, all of which are incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,800,656; 6,033,763; 6,083,620; and 6,099,944.

To form protective lacquer layer 63, a lacquer dispersion or solution ofthe type described above is deposited onto a desired area of ink layer53, preferably by screen printing, gravure printing, flexographicprinting or a similar technique. (Considerations relevant in decidingwhether to use screen printing, gravure printing or flexographicprinting to print a given layer, such as lacquer layer 63, include theparticle size of the composition to be printed and the thickness of thelayer one wishes to print. Screen printing is most suitable forcompositions having a larger particle size (i.e., as great as about100-200 microns) and where a thicker layer is desired (i.e., about 5-200microns). Gravure printing is most suitable for compositions having asmaller particle size (i.e., no more than a micron or two) and where athinner layer is desired (i.e., about 1-2 microns). Flexographicprinting is suitable for compositions having a particle size of no morethan several microns and where a thin layer of about 1-10 microns isdesired.)

After deposition of the lacquer composition onto the desired area oflayer 53, the volatile component(s) of the composition evaporate(s),leaving only the non-volatile components thereof to make up lacquerlayer 63.

It should be noted that, although the periphery of protective layer 63is shown in FIG. 6 as matching that of ink layer 53, the periphery ofprotective layer 63 could alternatively match that of support layer 55.

Image forming laminate 61 may be applied to an article and, thereafter,removed therefrom in the same manner as image forming laminate 13.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown a schematic section view of athird alternative embodiment of an image forming laminate, said imageforming laminate being constructed according to the teachings of thepresent invention and represented generally by reference numeral 111.

Image forming laminate 111 comprises a support portion 113 and atransfer portion 114, transfer portion 114 being releasably mounted onsupport portion 113 so as to be transferable from support portion 113 toan article by pressing transfer portion 114 of laminate 111 against thearticle while applying heat and/or light to transfer portion 114.

Support portion 113, in turn, comprises a carrier 115. Carrier 115 maybe a paper substrate, a polymer-coated paper substrate, or a polymerfilm substrate. Preferably, carrier 115 is a polymer film substratehaving a glass transition temperature in the range of 60° C. to 250° C.and having a storage modulus in the range of 1.0×10¹⁰ dynes/cm² to2.0×10¹⁰ dynes/cm² at ambient temperature and a storage modulus in therange of 5.0×10⁷ to 1.5×10¹⁰ dynes/cm² at 100° C. Examples of materialsparticularly preferred for use as carrier 115 include polyester films,particularly polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films and poly(ethylene2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate) (PEN) films, and oriented polypropylenefilms.

More preferably, carrier 115 is a plastic film of the type describedabove that is additionally optically clear. As can readily beappreciated, one benefit to using a clear material as carrier 115 isthat, if desired, one can inspect the quality of the printed matter ofthe laminate by looking at said printed matter through carrier 115 (fromwhich perspective said printed matter appears as it will on the labeledarticle), as opposed to looking at said printed matter through transferportion 114 of laminate 111 (from which perspective said printed matterappears as the mirror image of what will appear on the labeled article).

Carrier 115 preferably has a thickness of about 0.5-7 mil, morepreferably about 0.9-3.0 mil, even more preferably about 1.4-2 mil.

Support portion 113 also includes a release layer or coating 117,coating 117 preferably being applied directly to the top of carrier 115.Coating 117 is a release material that preferably separates cleanly fromtransfer portion 114 of laminate 111 and is not transferred, to anyvisually discernible degree, with transfer portion 114 onto an articlebeing labeled. (For purposes of the present specification and claims,the term “visually discernible” is to be construed in terms of anunaided or naked human eye.) Moreover, in addition to separating cleanlyfrom transfer portion 114 of laminate 111, coating 117 preferablypermits the separation of transfer portion 114 from coating 117 soon(i.e., within a few seconds) after transfer portion 114 has been appliedto an article. Preferably, release coating 117 is clear for the sametypes of reasons given above in connection with carrier 115.

Coating 117 preferably has a thickness of about 0.01 to 10 microns, morepreferably about 0.02 to 1 micron, even more preferably about 0.1micron.

Preferably, coating 117 and carrier 115 are selected so that the releaseforce required to peel a unit width of pressure sensitive tape fromcoating 117 at 180 degrees is in the range of about 0.5-5.0 lb/inch,more preferably about 1.5-3.5 lb/inch, even more preferably about2.1-2.4 lb/inch. For purposes of the present specification and claims,the release force required to peel a unit width of pressure sensitivetape from coating 117 at 180 degrees is determined in accordance withAdhesion Test Method PSTC-4B, which is described in Test Methods forPressure Sensitive Adhesive Tapes, 13^(th) Edition, published byPressure Sensitive Tape Council, Northbrook, Ill. (2000), and which isincorporated herein by reference.

A variety of different substances may be applied to carrier 115 to formcoating 117. One such substance is an olefinic material that does notcontain any waxes or any silicones, except to the limited extentprovided below. (The terms “non-wax” and “non-silicone,” when used inthe present specification and claims to describe or to define a releaselayer or coating formed from such a substance, are defined herein toexclude from said release layer or coating the presence of any and allwaxes and silicones not encompassed by the limited exceptions providedbelow.) The coating formed from said olefinic substance has a totalsurface energy of about 25 to 35 mN/m (preferably about 30 mN/m), ofwhich about 0.1 to 4 mN/m (preferably about 1.3 mN/m) is polar surfaceenergy. When analyzed by XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), saidcoating has a carbon content (by atomic %) of about 90 to 99.9%(preferably about 97%) and an oxygen content (by atomic %) of about 0.1to 10% (preferably about 3%). Examples of a support portion 113 thatincludes a carrier 115 and a coating 117 as described above arecommercially available from DuPont Teijin Films (Hopewell, Va.) asMylar® A701-142 gauge film and Mylar® A701-200 gauge film. The releaseforce required to peel, at 180 degrees, a unit width of pressuresensitive tape from coating 117 of Mylar® A701-142 gauge film is 2.117lb/inch and from coating 117 of Mylar® A701-200 gauge film is 2.4lb/inch.

Because it is common to wind a continuous web of heat-transfer labelsinto a roll, one advantage to using a non-wax, non-silicone releasecoating of the type described above in a heat-transfer labelconstruction is that there is no chance of the release coatingcontaminating transfer portion 114 with wax or silicone. This may be asubstantial benefit as the transfer of a wax or silicone residue ontotransfer portion 114 may adversely affect the adhesive properties oftransfer portion 114 layer during label transfer.

Another advantage of a non-wax release coating over a wax releasecoating is that a non-wax release coating is typically capable of beingused over a broader range of operating temperatures than is a waxrelease coating, which typically must be heated to its meltingtemperature.

Another advantage of a non-silicone release coating over a siliconerelease coating is that a non-silicone release coating typically hasbetter printability than does a silicone release coating.

Notwithstanding the above, instead of being formed from the non-wax,non-silicone, olefinic substance described above, release coating 117may comprise a phosphate ester coating, such as RA-150 W release coat(Mayzo, Inc., Norcross, Ga.), a carbamate coating, a silicone coating, afluorocarbon coating or a wax coating, such as a polyethylene-based waxcoating of the type described below.

Still other types of coated polymer films which may be used as supportportion 113 are described in PCT Application No. PCT/US00/17703, whichwas published on Jan. 18, 2001, and in European Patent Application No.819,726, published Jan. 21, 1998, both of which are incorporated hereinby reference. Both of the aforementioned patent applications teach acoated film structure preferably comprising:

(i) polymers selected from the group consisting of polyesters such aspolyethylene terephthalate and poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylate); polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene; andpolyamides; wherein said polymers form a polymeric film surface; and

(ii) a primer coating comprising:

(A) functionalized a-olefin containing copolymers, preferably acidfunctionalized α-olefin containing copolymers, selected from the groupconsisting of ethylene/acrylic acid copolymers; ethylene/methacrylicacid copolymers; ethylene/vinylacetate/acrylic acid terpolymers;ethylene/methacrylamide copolymers; ethylene/glycidyl methacrylatecopolymers; ethylene/dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate copolymers;ethylene/2-hydroxyethyl acrylate copolymers; propylene/acrylic acidcopolymers; etc. and

(B) crosslinking agents selected from the group consisting of aminoformaldehyde resins, polyvalent metal salts, isocyanates, blockedisocyanates, epoxy resins and polyfunctional aziridines;

(iii) wherein said primer coating is applied as a primer to thepolymeric film surface, preferably in its amorphous or semi-orientedstate and reacted with newly generated polymeric film surfaces formedduring uniaxial or biaxial stretching and heat setting.

Another example of a suitable support portion 113 may be found in U.S.Pat. No. 6,423,406, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Additives such as coating aids, wetting aids such as surfactants(including silicone surfactants), slip additives, antistatic agents maybe incorporated into release coating 117 in levels from 0 to 50% basedon the total weight of additive-free coating solids.

The above-described release coating 117 may additionally be applied tothe bottom surface of the polymeric carrier 115 for use in preventingtransfer portion 114 from adhering to the underside of carrier 115 whena label assembly comprising a plurality of transfer portions on a singlesupport portion 113 is wound into a roll.

Transfer portion 114, in turn, preferably includes (i) a protectivelayer 123 printed directly on top of a desired area of release layer 117and (ii) an ink layer 125 printed directly onto protective layer 123.Preferably, the periphery of ink layer 125 matches that of protectivelayer 123. (It should be understood that, even though only a singletransfer portion 114 is shown on a slightly oversized support portion113 in FIG. 7, one need not position only one transfer portion 114 persupport portion 113, but rather, one may space apart at regularintervals a plurality of identical or different transfer portions 114 onan elongated common web of support portion 113).

Protective layer 123, which preferably has a thickness of about 2 to 50,more preferably 2 to 10 microns, may be formed from a wide variety ofdifferent resins, provided that the resultant layer 123 possesses anacceptable degree of scuff resistance and, where transfer portion 114 isapplied to garments or other articles subjected to laundering, iscapable of protecting ink layer 125 satisfactorily from such launderingconditions. In addition, to permit highly legible printing thereonto,the surface roughness of protective layer 123 preferably should notexceed more than about 15 microns. Furthermore, in order to permittransfer portion 114 to be removed from an article to which it has beentransferred using image removing laminate 14 or image removing laminate41, protective layer 123 should bond more strongly to ink layer 125 andbe more strongly bondable to remover layer 21 than ink layer 125 bondsto the article being labeled. Where, for example, laminate 111 is usedto label fabric articles and ink layer 125 comprises a PVC-based ink ora thermal transfer ink, protective layer 123 may comprise, for example,a polyurethane resin, a PVC resin, or a phenoxy resin. Alternatively,where ink layer 125 comprises an acrylic-based ink, a polyester-basedink or a polyurethane-based ink, protective layer 123 may comprise, forexample, an acrylic resin, a polyester resin or a polyurethane resin,respectively. Protective layer 123 may additionally include wax toenhance its scuff resistance. An example of a suitable composition foruse in forming protective layer 123 includes 100 parts Geon 137 PVCresin (PolyOne, Cleveland, Ohio), 55 parts Santicizer 160 benzyl butylphthalate plasticizer (Ferro, Cleveland, Ohio) and 55 parts dioctylphthalate plasticizer (ChemCentral, Bedford Park, Ill.).

Protective layer 123 may be formed by printing, preferably by screenprinting, a suitable protective layer composition onto one or moredesired areas of release layer 117 and, thereafter, allowing anyvolatile component(s) of the ink composition(s) to evaporate, leavingonly the non-volatile ink components to form layer 123.

Ink layer 125 of transfer portion 114, which layer may actually compriseeither a single ink layer or a plurality of ink layers, may be formedfrom one or more of a wide variety of different inks, provided that theresultant layer 125 possesses an acceptable degree of adhesion toprotective layer 123 and is directly bondable, upon being activated byheat (preferably at typical heat-transfer temperatures) and/or light, tothe article to be labeled. For example, where the article to be labeledis a garment or similar article of fabric, ink layer 125 may be, forexample, a PVC-based ink. An example of a suitable ink composition foruse in forming ink layer 125 comprises 720 parts Geon 137 PVC resin(PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 350 parts Santicizer 160 benzylbutyl phthalate plasticizer (Ferro, Cleveland, Ohio), 350 parts dioctylphthalate plasticizer (ChemCentral, Bedford Park, Ill.), 140.4 partsViolet PC colorant (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 77.4 partsBlue PC colorant (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio) and 25.2 partsBright Yellow PC colorant (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio). Othersuitable inks may include thermal transfer inks, ink jet inks, lasertoners, polyester inks, polyurethane inks and acrylic inks.

Ink layer 125, which preferably has a thickness of about 0.1 to 30microns, more preferably about 1 to 20 microns, is formed by printingone or more ink compositions of the type described above onto lacquerlayer 123 and, thereafter, allowing any volatile component(s) of the inkcomposition(s) to evaporate, leaving only the non-volatile inkcomponents to form layer 125. In the case of the above-describedPVC-containing ink, there are no such volatile components, but theprinted layer must be heated, typically in an IR or UV oven, to fuse,gel, or “cure” the layer.

As discussed above in connection with ink layer 17, ink layer 125 maycomprise a first portion and a second portion wherein said first portionis formed by screen printing, gravure printing or flexographic printingand is directed to constant information and wherein said second portionis formed by thermal transfer printing, laser printing or ink jetprinting and is directed to variable information. In this manner, customlabels may be produced.

It should be understood that image forming laminate 111 couldadditionally or alternatively include an inventory control mechanism ora security feature (anti-theft, anti-counterfeiting, anti-parallelimports) in the form of one or more security materials (such as asecurity ink or a security additive of the type described above)incorporated into ink layer 125 and/or protective layer 123.

Referring now to FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b), there is shown the manner inwhich image forming laminate 111 may be used to label an article, suchas a garment G′. Garment G′ may be made of one or more fabrics, suchfabrics being formed from natural or synthetic materials (e.g., cotton,nylon, polyester, rayon, Lycra, Spandex or combinations thereof);alternatively, garment G′ may be made of non-fabric materials, such asleather or the like. As seen in FIG. 8( a), one first places laminate111 against garment G′, with ink layer 125 of transfer portion 114directly contacting garment G′ and carrier 115 facing away from garmentG′. Where ink layer 125 becomes bondable via heat-activation, laminate111 is pressed firmly against garment G′ while heat is applied downthrough support portion 113 to ink layer 125 until ink layer 125 bondsto garment G′. Preferably, the aforementioned application of heat andpressure to image forming laminate 111 is effected using conventionalheat-transfer equipment, such as an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer BonderModel No. 79200-00-3 set at 40-60 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds. As seenin FIG. 8( b), with ink layer 125 thus bonded to garment G′, supportportion 113 is then peeled away, leaving only transfer portion 114 ongarment G′.

One can adjust the type of finish transfer portion 114 exhibits on thelabeled article either by peeling support portion 113 from transferportion 114 immediately after transfer (“hot release”) to yield a mattefinish or by peeling support portion 113 from transfer portion 114 aftera short cooling period following transfer to yield a glossy finish.

The present inventors have noted that, when laminate 111 is used todecorate fabric articles, a good degree of label adherence and abrasionresistance can be achieved. For example, once applied to fabric,transfer portion 114 can be stretched with its associated fabric beyondits original size and can go through numerous washing cycles withoutbreaking down significantly or losing image quality. In addition,laminate 111 results in transfer portion 114 forming a smooth surface onthe labeled article, without any puckering on the article, and resultsin a “soft-feeling” label to the touch. Furthermore, laminate 111 doesnot leave a visually discernible residue on the fabric, therebyaffording a “no-label-look” to the labeled article.

Moreover, one of the advantages associated with laminate 111, ascompared to existing heat-transfer labels for fabric, is that supportportion 113 can be peeled away from transfer portion 114 soon (i.e.,within a few seconds or less) after transfer portion 114 has beenapplied to fabric under conditions of heat and pressure.

Referring now to FIGS. 9( a) and 9(b), there is shown schematically themanner in which image removing laminate 14 may be used to removetransfer portion 114 from garment G′ to which it has been bonded. First,as seen in FIG. 9( a), image removing laminate 14 is positioned relativeto the labeled article so that remover layer 21 is placed directly ontop of protective layer 123, with remover support 19 facing upwardlyaway from protective layer 123. Next, while image removing laminate 14is pressed downwardly against transfer portion 114, remover layer 21 isactivated. Where remover layer 21 is activatable by heat, suchactivation may be effected, for example, by applying heat to the top ofremover support 19 until sufficient heat is transmitted by removersupport 19 to layer 21 so as to cause layer 21 to be activated.(Preferably, the aforementioned application of heat and pressure toimage removing laminate 14 is effected using conventional heat-transferequipment, such as an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No.79200-00-3 set at 40-60 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds.) The result of theaforementioned activation of remover layer 21 is the bonding of removerlayer 21 to protective layer 123. Finally, as seen in FIG. 9( b), thepeeling away of image removing laminate 14 from garment G′ causesprotective layer 123 and ink layer 125, both of which are now adhered toimage removing laminate 14, also to be peeled away from garment G′.

It should be noted that image removing laminate 14 need not be usedwithin ten minutes after applying transfer portion 114 to garment G′,but rather, may be used at any time after applying transfer portion 114to garment G′.

It should also be noted that, instead of using image removing laminate14 to remove transfer portion 114 from garment G′, image removinglaminate 41 may be used.

Referring now to FIG. 10, there is shown a schematic section view of afourth alternative embodiment of an image forming laminate, said imageforming laminate being constructed according to the teachings of thepresent invention and represented generally by reference numeral 151.

Laminate 151 comprises a support portion 153, support portion 153comprising a carrier 155 and a release layer 157. Carrier 155 isidentical to carrier 115 of laminate 111, and release layer 157 isidentical to release layer 117 of laminate 111.

Laminate 151 further comprises an ink layer 159 printed directly onto adesired area of release layer 157 (it being understood that, even thoughonly a single ink layer 159 is shown in FIG. 10, one need not positiononly one ink layer 159 per support portion 153, but rather, one mayspace apart at regular intervals a plurality of identical or differentink layers 159 on an elongated common web of support portion 153.)

Ink layer 159, which may actually comprise either a single ink layer ora plurality of ink layers, may be formed from one or more of a widevariety of different inks, provided that the resultant layer 159releases acceptably from support portion 153 and is directly bondable,upon being activated by heat (preferably at typical heat-transfertemperatures) and/or light, to the article to be labeled. Where, forexample, the article to be labeled is a garment or similar article offabric, ink layer 159 may be formed using, for example, a PVC-based inkof the type described above. Other suitable inks may include thermaltransfer inks, ink jet inks, laser toners, polyester inks, polyurethaneinks, and acrylic inks. Furthermore, in order to permit ink layer 159 tobe removed from an article to which it has been transferred using imageremoving laminate 14 or image removing laminate 41, ink layer 159 shouldbe more strongly bondable to remover layer 21 than to the article beinglabeled.

Preferably, ink layer 159 has a thickness of about 0.1 to 30 microns,more preferably about 1 to 20 microns, and is formed by printing one ormore ink compositions of the type described above onto release layer 157and, thereafter, allowing any volatile component(s) of the inkcomposition(s) to evaporate, leaving only the non-volatile inkcomponents to form layer 159. Where ink layer 159 is formed using theabove-described PVC-containing ink, there are no such volatilecomponents, but the printed layer must be heated, typically in an IR orUV oven, to fuse, gel or “cure” the layer.

As discussed above in connection with ink layer 125, ink layer 159 maycomprise a first portion and a second portion wherein said first portionis formed by screen printing, gravure printing or flexographic printingand is directed to constant information and wherein said second portionis formed by thermal transfer printing, laser printing or ink jetprinting and is directed to variable information.

Image forming laminate 151 could additionally or alternatively includean inventory control mechanism or a security feature (anti-theft,anti-counterfeiting, anti-parallel imports) in the form of one or moresecurity materials (such as a security ink or a security additive of thetype described above) incorporated into ink layer 159.

Image forming laminate 151 may be applied to an article and, thereafter,removed therefrom in the same manner as image forming laminate 111.

One advantage of laminate 151 over laminate 111 is that themanufacturing process for producing laminate 151 is less involved thanthat for producing laminate 111, thereby resulting in a reduction ofmaterials needed and in manufacturing time and expense. In addition,because laminate 151 does not include a protective layer, itstransferred label (ink layer 159) has a reduced thickness or bulk ascompared to transfer portion 114 of laminate 111, thereby making thetransferred label of laminate 151 less irritating than the transferredlabel of laminate 111 to the skin of a wearer of a garment labeledtherewith.

On the other hand, a disadvantage of laminate 151 relative to laminate111 is that the lack of a layer between ink layer 159 and supportportion 153 tends to cause the ink of ink layer 159 to diffuse duringlabel transfer. As a result, the resolution of the image of ink layer159 tends to be poorer than that of ink design layer 125. Consequently,ink layer 159 is not as well suited as ink layer 125 for printing imagesor lettering of small size.

Referring now to FIG. 11, there is shown a schematic section view of afifth alternative embodiment of an image forming laminate, said imageforming laminate being constructed according to the teachings of thepresent invention and represented generally by reference numeral 211.

Laminate 211 comprises a support portion 213, support portion 213comprising a carrier 215 and a release layer 217. Carrier 215 isidentical to carrier 115 of laminate 111, and release layer 217 isidentical to release layer 117 of laminate 111.

Laminate 211 also comprises a wax layer 219, wax layer 219 overcoatingrelease layer 217 of support portion 213. Wax layer 219, which serves tofacilitate the release of the transfer portion to be described belowfrom support portion 213, preferably has a thickness of about 1 to 20microns, more preferably about 4 to 15 microns, and preferably has amelting point of about 60 to 130° C., more preferably about 80 to 120°C. Wax layer 219 preferably comprises a polyethylene-based wax and maybe printed (preferably by screen printing) from a composition comprising1350 parts Acumist D5 powdered wax (Honeywell, Morristown, N.J.), 450parts ME 48040 M2 wax emulsion (Michaelman, Cincinnati, Ohio), 300 partsTafigel PUR 61 thickener (Ultra Additives, Clover, S.C.), 36 partsDehydran 1620 defoamer (Cognis, Ambler, Pa.), 24 parts Zonyl FSA wettingagent (DuPont, Wilmington, Del.), and 5400 parts water.

Preferably, the aforementioned formulation is prepared using a Hockmeyermixer (Hockmeyer Equipment Corporation, Elizabeth City, N.C.) to form auniform, stable wax slurry, which is storage stable under ambientconditions in a closed container. Screen printing of the formulation maybe performed using a 250 mesh screen at a print speed of 2100 imprintsper hour. The printed wax layer may be dried and melted by heat from UVand IR lamps of a Smag press (Smag Graphique, Savigny-Sur-Orge Cedex,France). Solidification and crystallization of the wax may be achievedby forced air cooling after exiting the heating zone.

It should be understood that it may not be necessary in all instances toinclude both release layer 217 and wax layer 219 in laminate 211 inorder to achieve the desired release of the transfer portion from thesupport portion 213. Therefore, it may be acceptable in certaininstances to omit release layer 217 from laminate 211.

It should also be understood that wax layer 219 may be replaced with alayer of silicone. Laminate 211 further comprises a transfer portion 221(it being understood that, even though only a single transfer portion221 is shown in FIG. 11, one need not position only one transfer portion221 per support portion 213, but rather, one may space apart at regularintervals a plurality of identical or different transfer portions 221 onan elongated common web of support portion 213). Transfer portion 221preferably includes (i) a protective layer 223 printed directly on topof a desired area of wax layer 219 and (ii) an ink layer 225 printeddirectly onto protective layer 223. Preferably, the peripheries ofprotective layer 223 and ink layer 225 match one another.

Protective layer 223 may be identical to protective layer 123 oflaminate 111, and ink layer 223 may be identical to ink layer 125 oflaminate 111.

Image forming laminate 211 may be applied to an article and, thereafter,removed therefrom in the same manner as image forming laminate 111.

One potential problem with image forming laminates of the typerepresented by laminates 111, 151 and 211 is that, where such laminatesare used to label porous articles, such as garments and other fabricarticles, the transferred ink layer is placed in direct contact with theporous article. As a result, some or all of the transferred ink layermay seep into the porous article, as opposed to remaining on the surfaceof the porous article. As can readily be appreciated, such seepage ofthe ink layer into the porous article may complicate the removal of saidink layer using image removing laminate 14 or image removing laminate41.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is shown a schematic section view of asixth alternative embodiment of an image forming laminate, said imageforming laminate being constructed according to the teachings of thepresent invention and represented generally by reference numeral 311.

Laminate 311 is similar in most respects to laminate 211, the principaldifference between the two laminates being that laminate 311 furthercomprises a spacer 313 printed directly onto ink layer 225 and bondedthereto. Spacer 313, which is intended to prevent the above-describedproblem of seepage of ink layer 225 into an article being labeled,comprises a material which, when activated by heat (preferably attypical heat-transfer temperatures) and/or light, becomes bondable tothe article being labeled. Preferably, the bond between spacer 313 andthe article being labeled is sufficiently strong so that the transferredlabel is capable of remaining on the article under adverse conditions(such as laundering in the case of garments and the like) so as to forma lasting image on the article. At the same time, however, the bondbetween spacer 313 and the article being labeled and/or the bond betweenspacer 313 and ink layer 225 is preferably weaker than the bond betweenink layer 225 and remover layer 21 of image removing laminate 14 (orimage removing laminate 41) so that, if desired, ink layer 225 may beremoved from the article.

Where, for example, ink layer 225 is formed using a PVC ink or thermaltransfer ink and the article being labeled is a garment or other fabricarticle, spacer 313 may comprise, for example, a PVC resin, an ethylenevinyl acetate (EVA) resin or another like resin having a desirably lowstrength and low T_(g). An example of a suitable composition for use inmaking spacer 313 comprises 100 parts Geon 137 PVC resin (PolyOneCorporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 55 parts Santicizer 160 plasticizer(Ferro, Cleveland, Ohio), and 55 parts dioctyl phthalate plasticizer(ChemCentral, Bedford Park, Ill.). Where ink layer 225 is formed usingan acrylic-based ink, a polyester-based ink or a polyurethane-based ink,spacer 313 may comprise a suitable acrylic resin, polyester resin orpolyurethane resin, respectively.

As can readily be appreciated, because of the presence of spacer 313,certain inks that would not otherwise be desirable for use in making inklayer 225 (because of their seepage into the article being labeledand/or because of their strong bonding to the article being labeled) maybe used.

Spacer 313, which preferably has a thickness of about 1 to 15 microns,is formed in the conventional manner by depositing, preferably by screenprinting, a composition of the type described above onto ink layer 225and, thereafter, allowing any volatile component(s) of the inkcomposition(s) to evaporate, leaving only the non-volatile inkcomponents to form layer 313.

Preferably, the peripheries of protective layer 223, ink layer 225 andspacer 313 match one another.

Image forming laminate 311 may be applied to an article and, thereafter,removed therefrom in the same manner as image forming laminate 111. Ascan readily be appreciated, although it is preferred that all ofprotective layer 223, ink layer 225 and spacer 313 be removed from anarticle using image removing laminate 14 (or image removing laminate41), it is not essential that spacer 313 be removed from the articlewhere the image is wholly contained within ink layer 225.

Referring now to FIG. 13, there is shown a schematic section view of aseventh alternative embodiment of an image forming laminate, said imageforming laminate being constructed according to the teachings of thepresent invention and represented generally by reference numeral 411.

Laminate 411 is similar in most respects to laminate 311, the principaldifference between the two laminates being that laminate 411 does notinclude a layer corresponding to wax layer 219 of laminate 311.

Image forming laminate 411 may be applied to an article and, thereafter,removed therefrom in the same manner as image forming laminate 111.

Referring now to FIG. 14, there is shown a schematic section view of aneighth alternative embodiment of an image forming laminate, said imageforming laminate being constructed according to the teachings of thepresent invention and represented generally by reference numeral 511.

Laminate 511 comprises a support portion 513 and a transfer portion 514,transfer portion 514 being releasably mounted on support portion 513 soas to be transferable from support portion 513 to an article by pressingtransfer portion 514 of laminate 511 against the article while applyingheat and/or light to transfer portion 514.

Support portion 513, in turn, comprises a carrier 515 and a releaselayer 517. Carrier 515 is identical to carrier 115 of laminate 111, andrelease layer 517 is identical to release layer 117 of laminate 111.

Transfer portion 514, in turn, comprises (i) an ink layer 523 printeddirectly on top of a desired area of release layer 517 and (ii) anadhesive layer 525 printed directly onto ink layer 523. Preferably, theperiphery of adhesive layer 525 matches that of ink layer 523. (Itshould be understood that, even though only a single transfer portion514 is shown on a slightly oversized support portion 513 in FIG. 14, oneneed not position only one transfer portion 514 per support portion 513,but rather, one may space apart at regular intervals a plurality ofidentical or different transfer portions 514 on an elongated common webof support portion 513).

Ink layer 523, which layer may actually comprise either a single inklayer or a plurality of ink layers, may be formed from one or more of awide variety of different inks, provided that the resultant layer 523 isreleasable from release layer 517, possesses an acceptable degree ofadhesion to adhesive layer 525 to form a lasting image on an article,and is strongly bondable to remover layer 21 to permit the removal ofink layer 523 from an article. Inks suitable for use in making ink layer523 include PVC-based inks (both cross-linked and non-cross-linked),thermal transfer inks, ink jet inks, laser toners, polyester inks,polyurethane inks and acrylic inks. An example of a suitable inkcomposition for use in forming ink layer 523 comprises 100 parts GNSBear's Navy ink (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 5 parts Geon 138PVC resin (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), and 10 parts AcumistB9 wax (Honeywell Corporation, Morristown, N.J.). Another example of asuitable ink composition for use in making ink design layer 523comprises 144 parts Geon 137 PVC resin (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake,Ohio), 80 parts CYMEL 303 hexamethoxymethyl melamine crosslinker (CytecCorp., West Paterson, N.J.), 54 parts Santicizer 160 benzyl butylphthalate plasticizer (Ferro, Cleveland, Ohio), 54 parts dioctylphthalate plasticizer (ChemCentral, Bedford Park, Ill.), 25.2 partsCYCAT 296-9 catalyst (Cytec Corp., West Paterson, N.J.), 20.08 partsViolet PC colorant (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 15.48 partsBlue PC colorant (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio) and 5.04 partsBright Yellow PC colorant (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio).

Ink layer 523, which preferably has a thickness of about 0.1 to 30microns, more preferably about 1 to 20 microns, is formed by printingone or more ink compositions of the type described above onto releaselayer 517 and, thereafter, allowing any volatile component(s) of the inkcomposition(s) to evaporate, leaving only the non-volatile inkcomponents to form layer 523.

As discussed above in connection with ink layer 17, ink layer 523 maycomprise a first portion and a second portion wherein said first portionis formed by screen printing, gravure printing or flexographic printingand is directed to constant information and wherein said second portionis formed by thermal transfer printing, laser printing or ink jetprinting and is directed to variable information. In this manner, customlabels may be produced.

Adhesive layer 525 comprises a material which, when activated by heat(preferably at typical heat-transfer temperatures) and/or light, becomesbondable to the article being labeled. Preferably, the bond betweenadhesive layer 525 and the article being labeled is sufficiently strongso that the transferred label is capable of remaining on the articleunder adverse conditions (such as laundering in the case of garments andthe like) so as to form a lasting image on the article. At the sametime, however, the bond between adhesive layer 525 and the article beinglabeled and/or the bond between adhesive layer 525 and ink layer 523 ispreferably weaker than the bond between ink layer 523 and remover layer21 of image removing laminate 14 (or image removing laminate 41) sothat, if desired, ink layer 523 may be removed from the article.

Where, for example, ink layer 523 is formed using a PVC ink or thermaltransfer ink and the article being labeled is a garment or other fabricarticle, adhesive layer 525 may comprise, for example, a PVC resin or apolyester resin. An example of a suitable composition for use in makingadhesive layer 523 comprises 300 parts HMP 5184 P polyester powderadhesive resin (Bostik-Findley, Middleton, Mass.), 100 parts PKHW 35phenoxy dispersion binder (InChemRez Inc., Rock Hill, S.C.), 24 partsTafigel PUR 61 thickener (Ultra Additives, Inc., Clover, S.C.), 4 partsDehydran 1620 defoamer (Cognis Corp., Ambler, Pa.), 1 part Zonyl FSAwetting agent (DuPont, Wilmington, Del.), and 465 parts water. Where inklayer 225 is formed using an acrylic-based ink, a polyester-based ink ora polyurethane-based ink, adhesive layer 525 may comprise a suitableacrylic resin, polyester resin or polyurethane resin, respectively.

Adhesive layer 525, which preferably has a thickness of about 10 to 200microns, more preferably about 20 to 80 microns, is preferably formed bydepositing, by screen printing, gravure printing, flexographic printingor the like, an adhesive composition of the type described above ontoink layer 523 and then evaporating the volatile component(s) of thecomposition, leaving only the non-volatile solid component(s) thereof toform layer 525.

It should be understood that image forming laminate 511 couldadditionally or alternatively include an inventory control mechanism ora security feature (anti-theft, anti-counterfeiting, anti-parallelimports) in the form of one or more security materials (such as asecurity ink or a security additive of the type described above)incorporated into ink layer 523 and/or adhesive layer 525.

Image forming laminate 511 may be applied to an article and, thereafter,removed therefrom in the same manner as image forming laminate 111. Ascan readily be appreciated, although it is preferred that both ink layer523 and adhesive layer 525 be removed from an article using imageremoving laminate 14 (or image removing laminate 41), it is notessential that adhesive layer 525 be removed from the article where theimage is wholly contained within ink layer 523.

Referring now to FIG. 15, there is shown a schematic section view of aninth alternative embodiment of an image forming laminate, said imageforming laminate being constructed according to the teachings of thepresent invention and represented generally by reference numeral 611.

Image forming laminate 611 is similar in most respects to image forminglaminate 511, the principal difference between the two image forminglaminates being that image forming laminate 611 further includes aprimer layer 613 interposed between ink layer 523 and adhesive layer 525to promote adhesion therebetween. Where, for example, ink layer 523 isPVC-based and adhesive layer 525 is polyester-based, primer layer 613may include, for example, a PVC-based material. An example of a suitablematerial for use in forming primer layer 613 is Printable Adhesive(PolyOne, Cleveland, Ohio). (Where both ink layer 523 and adhesive layer525 are acrylic-based, polyester-based or polyurethane-based, primerlayer 613 is preferably acrylic-based, polyester-based orpolyurethane-based, respectively.) Primer layer 613, which preferablyhas a thickness of about 5 to 50 microns, more preferably 10 to 30microns, is preferably formed by printing a material of the typedescribed above onto ink layer 523 and allowing any volatile componentsthereto to evaporate, leaving only the non-volatile components thereofto form primer layer 613.

Image forming laminate 611 may be applied to an article and, thereafter,removed therefrom in the same manner as image forming laminate 111. Ascan readily be appreciated, although it is preferred that all of inklayer 523, primer layer 613 and adhesive layer 525 be removed from anarticle using image removing laminate 14 (or image removing laminate41), it is not essential that primer layer 613 and adhesive layer 525 beremoved from the article where the image is wholly contained within inklayer 523.

It should be noted that, whereas image removing laminates 14 and 41 havebeen described above as being used with various image forming laminatesof the type that are activated for application to an article using heatand/or light, image removing laminates 14 and 41 are not limited to usewith such image forming laminates and may also be used to remove inkimages that have been applied to an article using pressure-sensitiveadhesives and the like.

The following examples are provided for illustrative purposes only andare in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention:

EXAMPLE 1

An image removing laminate having a construction similar to that ofimage removing laminate 41 was prepared as follows: First, apolyethylene terephthalate (PET) film was coated with a 50 micron layerof Sancure 835 polyurethane dispersion (Noveon Corp., Cleveland, Ohio).Next, the coating was dried by heating the coated product in an oven at120° C. for 3 minutes. Next, a PVC plastisol prepared by combining 100 gof Geon 137 PVC resin (PolyOne Corp., Avon Lake, Ohio), 55 g of dioctylphthalate plasticizer (ChemCentral, Bedford, Ill.) and 55 g ofSanticizer 160 plasticizer (Ferro Corp., Cleveland, Ohio) was coated ontop of the above-described Sancure 835 coating. The plastisol was thenfused by heating the coated product at 120° C. for 3 minutes.

An image forming laminate having a construction similar to that of imageforming laminate 211 was prepared as follows: First, a wax formulationconsisting of 1350 parts Acumist D5 powdered wax (Honeywell Corp.,Morristown, N.J.), 450 parts ME 48040 M2 wax emulsion (Michaelman,Cincinnati, Ohio), 300 parts Tafigel PUR 61 thickener (Ultra Additives,Clover, S.C.), 36 parts Dehydran 1620 defoamer (Cognis, Ambler, Pa.) 24parts Zonyl FSA (DuPont, Wilmington, Del.) and 5400 parts water wasprinted onto the release-coated side of a Mylar® A701 film (DuPontTeijin Films, Hopewell, Va.). The printed product was then dried in anoven. Next, a protective layer formulation consisting of 60 parts Geon137 PVC resin, 33 parts of dioctyl phthalate and 33 parts Santicizer 160plasticizer was printed onto the wax layer. The printed product was thendried in an oven. Next, an ink layer formulation consisting of 720 partsGeon 137 PVC resin, 350 parts dioctyl phthalate, 350 parts Santicizer160 plasticizer, 140 parts Violet PC (PolyOne, Avon Lake, Ohio), 77.4parts Blue PC (PolyOne, Avon Lake, Ohio), and 25.2 parts Bright YellowPC (Polyone, Avon Lake, Ohio) was printed onto the protective layer. Theprinted product was then dried in an oven. All of the above printingsteps were performed using a Galaxy 2000 screen printer (Smag Graphique,Savigny-Sur-Orge Cedex, France).

The above-described image forming laminate was then placed on top of anunderwear T-shirt, with the ink layer in direct contact with theT-shirt, and the transfer portion of the image forming laminate wastransferred to the T-shirt under a pressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2seconds using an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No.79200-00-3 (Avery Dennison Corp., Pasadena, Calif.). Next, the labeledT-shirt was subjected to fifty home laundry cycles and then inspected.The image remained intact on the fabric.

A second labeled T-shirt was prepared in the above-described manner(except that said second labeled T-shirt was not subjected to fifty homelaundry cycles). Next, the above-described image removing laminate wasplaced on top of the labeled T-shirt, with the PVC layer of the imageremoving laminate being placed directly on top of the transferred label.The image removing laminate was then bonded to the label under apressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds using an Avery Dennison HeatTransfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3. The resulting product was thencooled to room temperature. The label was then removed from the T-shirtby peeling the image removing laminate away from the T-shirt. No traceof the image was left behind on the T-shirt.

An image forming laminate of the same type described above was thenplaced on the same T-shirt in the area from which the previous label hadbeen removed. The transfer portion of this image forming laminate wasthen transferred to the T-shirt in the same manner described above. Thenewly labeled T-shirt was then subjected to 37 home laundry cycles andthen inspected. The new image remained intact on the T-shirt.

EXAMPLE 2

An image forming laminate having a construction similar to that of imageforming laminate 111 was prepared as follows: First, a protectiveplastisol consisting of 60 parts Geon 137 PVC resin, 33 parts dioctylphthalate and 33 parts Santicizer 160 plasticizer was printed onto therelease-coated side of a Mylar® A701 film (DuPont Teijin Films,Hopewell, Va.). The printed product was then dried in an oven. Next, ablue plastisol ink formulation consisting of 720 parts Geon 137 PVCresin, 350 parts dioctyl phthalate, 350 parts Santicizer 160plasticizer, 140 parts Violet PC (PolyOne, Avon Lake, Ohio), 77.4 partsBlue PC (PolyOne, Avon Lake, Ohio), and 25.2 parts Bright Yellow PC(Polyone, Avon Lake, Ohio) was printed onto the protective layer. Theprinted product was then dried in an oven. All of the above printingsteps were performed using a Galaxy 2000 screen printer (Smag Graphique,Savigny-Sur-Orge Cedex, France).

The above-described image forming laminate was then placed on top of anunderwear T-shirt, with the ink layer in direct contact with theT-shirt, and the transfer portion of the image forming laminate wastransferred to the T-shirt under a pressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2seconds using an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No.79200-00-3 (Avery Dennison Corp., Pasadena, Calif.).

Next, an image removing laminate of the type described above in Example1 was placed on top of the labeled T-shirt, with the PVC layer of theimage removing laminate being placed directly on top of the transferredlabel. The image removing laminate was then bonded to the label under apressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds using an Avery Dennison HeatTransfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3. The resulting product was thencooled to room temperature. The label was then removed from the T-shirtby peeling the image removing laminate away from the T-shirt. No traceof the image was left behind on the T-shirt.

EXAMPLE 3

An image forming laminate having a construction similar to that of imageforming laminate 311 was prepared as follows: First, a wax formulationof the type described in Example 1 was printed onto the release-coatedside of a Mylar® A701 film (DuPont Teijin Films, Hopewell, Va.), and theresulting product was dried in an oven. Next, a protective plastisolformulation of the type described in Example 2 was printed onto theabove-described wax layer, and the resulting product was dried in anoven. Next, a blue plastisol ink formulation of the type described inExample 2 was printed onto the above-described protective layer, and theresulting product was dried in an oven. Finally, a thin layer of theabove-described protective plastisol formulation was printed onto theabove-described ink layer to form a spacer layer, and the resultingproduct was dried in an oven. All of the above printing steps wereperformed using a Galaxy 2000 screen printer (Smag Graphique,Savigny-Sur-Orge Cedex, France).

The above-described image forming laminate was then placed on top of anunderwear T-shirt, with the spacer layer in direct contact with theT-shirt, and the transfer portion of the image forming laminate wastransferred to the T-shirt under a pressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2seconds using an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No.79200-00-3 (Avery Dennison Corp., Pasadena, Calif.).

Next, an image removing laminate of the type described above in Example1 was placed on top of the labeled T-shirt, with the PVC layer of theimage removing laminate being placed directly on top of the transferredlabel. The image removing laminate was then bonded to the label under apressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds using an Avery Dennison HeatTransfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3. The resulting product was thencooled to room temperature. The label was then removed from the T-shirtby peeling the image removing laminate away from the T-shirt. No obviousimage was left behind on the T-shirt.

EXAMPLE 4

An image removing laminate having a construction similar to that ofimage removing laminate 14 was prepared by coating onto a PET film amixture of 50 g Sancure 835 polyurethane dispersion, 0.5 g Tafigel PUR61 thickener and 0.2 g Dehydran 1620 defoamer with 100 micron wetthickness, and then by drying the coated product by heating in an ovenat 120° C. for 3 minutes.

An image forming laminate of the type described above in Example 1 wasthen transferred to an underwear T-shirt at a pressure of 40 psi at 400°F. for 2 seconds using an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model79200-00-3 to yield a labeled T-shirt. Next, the image removing laminateof the present example was placed on the transferred label, with thepolyurethane-based coating of the image removing laminate in directcontact with the label. Next, the image removing laminate was bonded tothe transferred label at a pressure of 40 psi at 400 ° F. for 2 secondsusing an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model 79200-00-3. Theresulting laminate was then cooled to room temperature, and the imagewas removed by peeling away the image removing laminate. No trace of animage was left behind on the T-shirt.

EXAMPLE 5

An image forming laminate having a construction similar to that of imageforming laminate 211 was prepared as follows: First, a wax formulationof the type described above in Example 1 was printed onto therelease-coated side of a Mylar® A701 film, and the printed product wasdried in an oven. Next, a protective layer formulation of the typedescribed in Example 1 was printed onto the wax layer, and the printedproduct was dried in an oven. Next, an ink layer formulation of the typedescribed above in Example 1 was printed onto the protective layer, andthe printed product was dried in an oven. All of the above printingsteps were performed using a Galaxy 2000 screen printer (Smag Graphique,Savigny-Sur-Orge Cedex, France). Finally, a thermal transfer image wasprinted onto the protective layer in an area left blank by theaforementioned ink layer, said thermal transfer image being printedusing an Armor AXR 600B ribbon (Armor USA Inc., Hebron, Ky.) and anAvery Thermal Transfer Printer Model No. 64-04 (Avery Dennison Corp.,Pasadena, Calif.).

The above-described image forming laminate was then placed on top of anunderwear T-shirt, with the ink layer in direct contact with theT-shirt, and the transfer portion of the image forming laminate wastransferred to the T-shirt under a pressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2seconds using an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No.79200-00-3 (Avery Dennison Corp., Pasadena, Calif.).

Next, an image removing laminate of the type described above in Example1 was placed on top of the labeled T-shirt, with the PVC layer of theimage removing laminate being placed directly on top of the transferredlabel. The image removing laminate was then bonded to the label under apressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds using an Avery Dennison HeatTransfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3. The resulting product was thencooled to room temperature. The label was then removed from the T-shirtby peeling the image removing laminate away from the T-shirt. No sign ofthe image was left behind on the T-shirt.

EXAMPLE 6

An image forming laminate having a construction similar to that of imageforming laminate 211 was prepared as follows: First, a wax formulationof the type described above in Example 1 was printed onto therelease-coated side of a Mylar® A701 film, and the printed product wasdried in an oven. Next, a protective layer formulation of the typedescribed in Example 1 was printed onto the wax layer, and the printedproduct was dried in an oven. Next, an ink layer formulation comprising178 parts Geon 137 PVC resin, 98 parts Santicizer 160 plasticizer, 98parts dioctyl phthalate plasticizer, 240 parts Violet PC colorant, 180parts Bright Blue PC colorant (PolyOne Corp., Cleveland, Ohio), and 150Light Brown PC colorant (PolyOne Corp., Cleveland, Ohio) was printedonto the protective layer, and the printed product was dried in an oven.All of the above printing steps were performed using a Galaxy 2000screen printer (Smag Graphique, Savigny-Sur-Orge Cedex, France).

The above-described image forming laminate was then placed on top of anunderwear T-shirt, with the ink layer in direct contact with theT-shirt, and the transfer portion of the image forming laminate wastransferred to the T-shirt under a pressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2seconds using an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No.79200-00-3 (Avery Dennison Corp., Pasadena, Calif.).

Next, an image removing laminate of the type described above in Example1 was placed on top of the labeled T-shirt, with the PVC layer of theimage removing laminate being placed directly on top of the transferredlabel. The image removing laminate was then bonded to the label under apressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds using an Avery Dennison HeatTransfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3. The resulting product was thencooled to room temperature. The label was then removed from the T-shirtby peeling the image removing laminate away from the T-shirt. Noresidual image was left behind on the T-shirt.

EXAMPLE 7

The image removing laminate of Example 1 was placed on top of anunderwear T-shirt, with the ink layer in direct contact with theT-shirt, and the transfer portion of the image forming laminate wastransferred to the T-shirt under a pressure of 60 psi at 375° F. for 2seconds using a Hastings heat transfer bonder model no. US1-HT (HastingsManufacturing Inc., St. Louis, Mo.).

Next, an image removing laminate of the type described above in Example4 was placed on top of the labeled T-shirt, with the PVC layer of theimage removing laminate being placed directly on top of the transferredlabel. The image removing laminate was then bonded to the label under apressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds using the aforementionedHastings heat transfer bonder model no. US1-HT. The resulting productwas then cooled to room temperature. The label was then removed from theT-shirt by peeling the image removing laminate away from the T-shirt. Aweak trace residue of the blue image remained on the top of the T-shirt.

EXAMPLE 8

An image forming laminate of the type described in Example 1 was placedon top of an underwear T-shirt, with the ink layer in direct contactwith the T-shirt, and the transfer portion of the image forming laminatewas transferred to the T-shirt under a pressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for2 seconds using an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No.79200-00-3.

An image removing laminate having a construction similar to that ofimage removing laminate 14 was prepared as follows: First, a mixture of50 g of Sancure 835 polyurethane dispersion, 0.5 g of Tafigel PUR 61thickener, 0.2 g of Dehydran 1620 defoamer and 1 g of CX-100 crosslinker(NeoResins, Wilmington, Mass.) was coated on a PET film to a 100 micronwet thickness. Next, the coating was dried by heating the coated productin an oven at 120° C. for 3 minutes.

Next, the aforementioned image removing laminate was placed on top ofthe above-described labeled T-shirt, with the polyurethane-containinglayer of the image removing laminate being placed directly on top of thetransferred label. The image removing laminate was then bonded to thelabel under a pressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds using an AveryDennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3. The resultingproduct was then cooled to room temperature. The label was then removedfrom the T-shirt by peeling the image removing laminate away from theT-shirt. No residual image was left behind on the T-shirt.

In comparing the results of Examples 1, 4 and 8, it may be noted thatthe image removing laminate of Example 8 removed less of the fine fabrichair from the labeled T-shirt than did the image removing laminate ofExample 4 and that the image removing laminate of Example 4 removed lessof the fine fabric hair from the labeled T-shirt than did the imageremoving laminate of Example 1.

EXAMPLE 9

An image forming laminate was prepared, said image forming laminatebeing identical to that of Example 6, except that the ink layer thereofwas replaced with a thermal transfer printed ink layer formed using anAXR 600 thermal transfer ribbon ink (Armor, Hebron, Ky.).

The aforementioned image forming laminate was then placed on top of anunderwear T-shirt, with the ink layer in direct contact with theT-shirt, and the transfer portion of the image forming laminate wastransferred to the T-shirt using an Avery Dennison Heat Transfer BonderModel No. 79200-00-3, under conditions of 40 psi for 1 second at 300° F.for the moving die and 500° F. for the bottom plate.

An image removing laminate identical to that of Example 1 was thenplaced on top of the above-described labeled T-shirt, with the PVC layerof the image removing laminate being placed directly on top of thetransferred label. The image removing laminate was then bonded to thelabel under a pressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds using an AveryDennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3. The resultingproduct was then cooled to room temperature. The label was then removedfrom the T-shirt by peeling the image removing laminate away from theT-shirt. No residual image was left behind on the T-shirt.

EXAMPLE 10

An image forming laminate having a construction similar to that of imageforming laminate 13 was prepared by thermal transfer printing thethermal transfer ink of Example 9 onto a PVC support film (AveryDennison PVC 4A film, Avery Dennison Corp., Pasadena, Calif.).

The aforementioned image forming laminate was then placed on top of anunderwear T-shirt, with the PVC support film in direct contact with theT-shirt, and the image forming laminate was bonded to the T-shirt usingan Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3, underconditions of 40 psi for 1 second at 300° F. for the moving die and 500°F. for the bottom plate.

An image removing laminate identical to that of Example 4 was thenplaced on top of the above-described labeled T-shirt, with the PVC layerof the image removing laminate being placed directly on top of thetransferred label. The image removing laminate was then bonded to thelabel under a pressure of 40 psi at 400° F. for 2 seconds using an AveryDennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3. The resultingproduct was then cooled to room temperature. The label was then removedfrom the T-shirt by peeling the image removing laminate away from theT-shirt. No residual image was left behind on the T-shirt.

EXAMPLE 11

An image forming laminate having a construction similar to that of imageforming laminate 611 was prepared as follows: First, an ink formulationconsisting of 100 parts GNS Bear's Navy ink, 5 parts Geon 138 PVC resinand 10 parts Acumist B9 wax was printed onto the release-coated side ofa Mylar® A701 film. The printed product was then dried in an oven. Next,a PVC primer layer consisting of Printable Adhesive primer (PolyOne,Cleveland, Ohio) was printed onto the aforementioned ink layer. Theprinted product was then dried in an oven. Next, an adhesive layerformulation consisting of 300 parts HMP 5184 P powder polyesteradhesive, 100 parts PHKW 35 phenoxy binder, 24 parts Tafigel PUR 61thickener, 4 parts Dehydran 1620 defoamer, 1 part Zonyl FSA wettingagent and 465 parts water was printed onto the aforementioned primerlayer. The printed product was then dried in an oven. All of the aboveprinting steps were performed using a Galaxy 2000 screen printer (SmagGraphique, Savigny-Sur-Orge Cedex, France).

The aforementioned image forming laminate was then placed on top of anunderwear T-shirt, with the PVC support film in direct contact with theT-shirt, and the image forming laminate was bonded to the T-shirt usingan Avery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3, underconditions of 40 psi for 1 second at 300° F. for the moving die and 500°F. for the bottom plate.

An image removing laminate identical to that of Example 4 was thenplaced on top of the above-described labeled T-shirt, with the PVC layerof the image removing laminate being placed directly on top of thetransferred label. The image removing laminate was then bonded to thelabel under a pressure of 40 psi at 400 ° F. for 2 seconds using anAvery Dennison Heat Transfer Bonder Model No. 79200-00-3. The resultingproduct, while it was still warm, was then removed from the T-shirt bypeeling the image removing laminate away from the T-shirt. The image wasremoved, but a trace amount of adhesive may have remained. It may benecessary to repeat the removal step one more time in order to removethe adhesive residue from the T-shirt.

The embodiments of the present invention recited herein are intended tobe merely exemplary and those skilled in the art will be able to makenumerous variations and modifications to it without departing from thespirit of the present invention. For example, it should be appreciatedthat one may add, either directly or through trans-layer migration,trace or non-functional minor amounts of waxes or silicones to therelease layer described herein as “non-wax” and “non-silicone” withoutbeing outside the scope of applicants' invention. Thus, the terms“non-wax” and “non-silicone” as used herein is intended to embrace thispossibility. All such variations and modifications are intended to bewithin the scope of the present invention as defined by the claimsappended hereto.

1. A method of removing an ink image secured to a garment, said methodcomprising the steps of: (a) providing an image removing laminate, saidimage removing laminate comprising (i) a remover support, and (ii) aremover layer secured to said remover support, said remover layer, uponbeing activated by at least one of heat and light, being bondable tosaid ink image on said garment in such a way that the bonding betweensaid remover layer and said ink image is stronger than the bondingbetween said ink image and the garment; (b) bonding said remover layerof said image removing laminate to said ink image on the garment; and(c) then, detaching said ink image from said garment by separating saidimage removing laminate away from the garment.
 2. The method as claimedin claim 1 wherein the garment is made from at least one of cotton,nylon, polyester, rayon, Lycra, and Spandex.
 3. The method as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said remover layer is bonded directly to said removersupport.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said remover layeris secured to said remover support by an intermediate tie layer.
 5. Amethod for processing a garment, said method comprising the steps of:(a) printing an ink image on a support; (b) then, bonding said ink imageand said support to the garment; (c) then, bonding, using at least oneof heat and light, a remover layer to said ink image in such a way thatthe bonding between said remover layer and said ink image is strongerthan the bonding between said ink image and the garment; and (d) then,removing said ink image from said garment by separating said removerlayer from the garment.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 5 wherein saidbonding of step (b) comprises bonding said support directly to thegarment.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 5 wherein said bonding ofstep (b) comprises bonding said support to the garment using anadhesive.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 7 wherein said adhesive is aheat-activated adhesive.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 5 whereinsaid support has a surface roughness not exceeding 15 microns.
 10. Themethod as claimed in claim 5 further comprising, after said printingstep, positioning a protective layer over said ink image.
 11. The methodas claimed in claim 5 wherein the garment is a fabric garment.
 12. Themethod as claimed in claim 5 wherein said printing step comprisesprinting said ink image using at least one of screen printing, gravureprinting and flexographic printing.
 13. The method as claimed in claim 5wherein said printing step comprises printing said ink image using atleast one of thermal transfer printing, ink jet printing and laserprinting.
 14. The method as claimed in claim 5 wherein said printingstep comprises printing a first portion of said ink image using at leastone of screen printing, gravure printing and flexographic printing andprinting a second portion of said ink image using at least one ofthermal transfer printing, ink jet printing and laser printing.
 15. Themethod as claimed in claim 5 wherein said remover layer is securelycoupled to a remover support.
 16. A method for processing a garment,said method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a support; (b) then,printing an ink image on said support; (c) then, transferring said inkimage from said support to the garment whereby said ink image is bondedto the garment; (d) then, bonding, using at least one of heat and light,a remover layer to said ink image in such a way that the bonding betweensaid remover layer and said ink image is stronger than the bondingbetween said ink image and the garment; and (e) then, removing said inkimage from said garment by separating said remover layer from thegarment.
 17. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said supportcomprises a carrier and a release and wherein said printing stepcomprises printing said ink image directly onto said release.
 18. Themethod as claimed in claim 16 wherein said transferring step comprisesbonding said ink image directly to the garment.
 19. The method asclaimed in claim 16 wherein said transferring step comprises bondingsaid ink image to the garment using an adhesive.
 20. The method asclaimed in claim 16 further comprising, prior to said printing step, thestep of depositing a protective layer over said support, wherein saidprinting step comprises printing said ink image on said protective layerand wherein said transferring step comprises transferring said ink imageand said protective layer from said support to the garment.
 21. Themethod as claimed in claim 16 wherein said printing step comprisesprinting said ink image using at least one of screen printing, gravureprinting and flexographic printing.
 22. The method as claimed in claim16 wherein said printing step comprises printing said ink image using atleast one of thermal transfer printing, ink jet printing and laserprinting.
 23. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said printingstep comprises printing a first portion of said ink image using at leastone of screen printing, gravure printing and flexographic printing andprinting a second portion of said ink image using at least one ofthermal transfer printing, ink jet printing and laser printing.
 24. Themethod as claimed in claim 16 wherein said remover layer is securelycoupled to a remover support.